News Why being more than just your job can actually make you better at it

Why being more than just your job can actually make you better at it

Change Health Leadership Management Wellbeing

Relying on work to provide a sense of purpose at the expense of other parts of life can limit your chances of success, says leadership expert Cameron Brooks.

"When your whole identity is tied up in the work that you do, you may not be as successful at your work as you'd like to be," he says.

"People who understand that they're more than their job are more likely to be resilient and adaptable, and, therefore, successful at work."

Cameron is a Senior Consultant in the Organisational Learning Group at Melbourne Business School, who believes that defining yourself as more than your job is critical for success – particularly in changing environments.

"When we're over-invested in our work, we can under-invest in other aspects of our life," he says.

"We might under-invest in our health, or we might under-invest in our relationships with people who are important, so that might be our friends or our family.

"Those things are really important resources to ensure that we're productive and that we're resilient in the workplace."

For leaders, this means modelling behaviour that encourages staff to embrace all the different aspects of their life.

"As a leader, you create an incredible impact into the organisation. People are looking to you to set their cues as to what's the right way to do things and how they should show up," Cameron says.

"Being more aware of the impact that you might be having can have a tremendous impact on other people to ensure that they can lead a life that's more in line with their own purpose and values.

"If you're sending them emails in the evening, if you're expecting them to respond to their phone on the weekend, then that's going to also then create challenges for other people to find time for rest and relaxation."

Watch the above video interview with Cameron to learn more.

Cameron presents on the Driving Performance in a Changing World (online) as well as our Custom Solutions programs.

To find out about studying at Melbourne Business School, visit our Degree Programs and Short Courses pages, or discover how we design Custom Solutions with organisations.